MILITARY NEWS

Retired

The following area residents serving in the New York Army National Guard have retired:

• Col. David Gagnon of Stone Ridge, assigned to the Joint Force Headquarters, retired in June after 33 years of military service. He first entered the military in May 1986.

• Sgt. 1st Class John Gallo of Kingston, assigned to Company B, Recruiting and Retention, retired in June after 35 years of military service. He first entered the military in September 1983.

Promoted

The following area residents serving in the New York Army National Guard were promoted:

• Isaiah Charles of Kingston, assigned to the 1156th Engineer Company, to the rank of specialist.

• Ryan North of Hurley, assigned to the 1156th Engineer Company, to the rank of private.

Re-enlisted

The following area residents serving in the New York Army National Guard re-enlisted:

• Sgt. Drew Brown of Kingston, serving with Battery A, 1-258th Field Artillery.

• Sgt. Justin Lamoreaux of West Hurley, serving with the 1156th Engineer Company.

• Spec. James Boyle of Olivebridge, serving with Company A, 101st Signal Battalion.

Training

New York Army National Guard soldiers from the 104th Military Police Battalion, which is headquartered in Kingston, are currently conducting their annual training at Fort Drum, located near Watertown, N.Y., through Aug. 24.

A total of 526 soldiers from the detachment will conduct live-fire training exercises with machine guns, firing at mul

tiple targets from stationary and mobile vehicles. The exercise’s goal is to improve the effectiveness and survivability of crews and teams, while building battalion-level proficiency.

The unit served 2007 and 2008 in Iraq, where the soldiers were responsible for overseeing detainee camp operations. The unit deployed troops to Washington in January 2009 to assist in providing security and crowd control during the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.

Battalion members also responded to the New York National Guard call-up of forces to assist communities devastated by Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.